Summer Illustration #1
The Final Freedom
48cm x 61cm Bristol Paper August 2018 Exhibition Text This piece is titled The Final Freedom, which is a play on words of Norman Rockwell's Freedom Collection. This is a positive piece in a set of works focused on the different aspects of war. The goal for this was to portray a positive aspect of war, the safeguarding of a country's people and ideals. |
(Click to enlarge pictures)
Planning
Inspiration
It was very challenging to brainstorm for both pieces of this summer project. I had a very simplistic idea at first, as I knew that I wanted to do something with the more literal connotation of Conflict, War. I looked to my previous illustrations that I had done first semester for some inspiration. While looking through my previous work, I thought about the concept of relating the two pictures together. The idea of having a positive and negative piece again intrigued me, so I decided to go along with it. Through this research, I also decided on an artist to pursue, Norman Rockwell. I remembered his wartime illustrations and thought that they would fit aptly. For this Positive piece, I first decided to look at his Four Freedoms collection. My goal for this project was to portray a positive aspect of war, the safeguarding of a country's people and ideals. I had initially looked at his "Freedom of Speech" illustration for inspiration. I had thought that this was the ideal piece to use at first, but when I had started to create my planning sketch for it, I began to have second thoughts. I was unsure if I would have been able to properly transform it at the time. I then looked at his "Freedom from Fear" illustration, and realized that this would end up being a better choice than the other illustration.
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(Click to enlarge pictures)
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Planning Sketches
In this first sketch, I was working on getting an idea of how to create my version of Rockwell's "Freedom of Speech". I had only gotten about 10 minutes into this sketch when I began to fell doubtful about this approach. I thought about turning the people into a group of soldiers being debriefed about a mission, or even manipulating the picture into a group of soldiers in a battlefield. I dismissed these ideas as I deemed myself incapable of doing it at the time.
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This next sketch was a semi-detailed recreation of Rockwell's "Freedom from Fear". I always do a full sketch of the main inspiration in order to get a better idea of what I am getting into. This allowed me to make a few decisions about what I would end up carrying forward into the next sketch and final product. I also created a grid over the sketch assist me in the creation of my final sketch
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This was my final sketch for this project. I made many different decisions throughout this sketch. Firstly, in relation to my previous illustration projects, I liked the idea of modernizing the piece slightly. I then created the grid over it and got to work on sketching. Throughout this, I thought back to my core idea of the safeguarding of a country's people and ideals. I wanted to turn the man into a soldier going off to war, seeing his family one last time before he leaves. In order to slightly simplify thing s for me (regrettably), I removed the children from the picture and moved the wife into the bed, sleeping. I kept the majority of the background picture the same. However, I wanted to add a bit more things to contrast the removal of the children. I added a nightstand with a note to his wife and instead of the picture in the top left, I made it a case holding all of his medals and accolades. Another thing that I wanted to add was the nightstand in the bottom left in order to add something more to the picture.
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Process
Experimentation
Overall, most of my experimentation occurred during the sketching process. One of the things that I had experimented with at first was keeping one child in the bed with the woman next to the man, but I decided not to stay with that in the end. Another thing that I had debated with myself over was the picture in the top right. I initially planned to leave it blank or just outright remove, then I considered creating a portion of a family portrait within the picture. I finally decided on making it a case holding all of his medals, as I felt it would fit better with the idea of the project. Another simple thing I had to decide on was the writing/design of the newspaper that the man is holding. I originally elected to just leave it mostly blank with illegible scribbling, but I then decided to stay more true to the original and include a large bold title. Finally, I very simple yet important detail that I experimented with was the face and the man overall. I felt that it would be appropriate to relate it to the other project, so I planned to keep the facial features similar. |
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Process
Sketching: After I had finished my final sketch and planning, I created a grid over the last planning sketch. I created lines every __in(__cm) along the top and __in(__cm) along the sides to create a grid on the Bristol paper. I then began to use the grid method to form the sketch in pencil. I started with some of the simpler aspects of the picture in order to get a feel for it. First, I drew the nightstand in the bottom left as a nice base to grow from. Secondly, I went on to draw the backboard of the bed and the pillows. I continued to move upwards and drew in the slanted ceiling and the medal case. After that, I shifted my attention to the doorway on the right and the railings on the outside. Next, I finished drawing in the bed frame, the woman's head in the bed, and the covers. I then went on to finish the sketching with the standing soldier. The soldier was the most time consuming aspect of the project due to the the random camouflage and me messing up consistently on the shape of his head.
Inking: After I was satisfied with the final sketching, I began to to finalize the design. I again started with the nightstand, using a ruler to maintain the straight lines. From there, I decided to shift over to the soldier. I started to draw over the boots and his general outline first, then moving inwards to the camouflage, erasing the grid lines and extra lines as I went along. I was sure to spend some extra attention to his face, adding the patchy beard to relate it to the other piece. Next, I finished the bed frame and the covers, spreading some ink out to create a shaded area. I then went over to the door frame and the outside railings. Next, I moved onto the pillows and the woman's head, which ended up being sightly difficult. I finished up the piece by changing the medal case slightly. By that point, the positioning of the slanted ceiling felt too awkward to me, which I decided to remove and shift the orientation of the case to be parallel to the bed frame below. After I had finished outlining the entire paper, I worked on the shading of all of the objects. For many of the areas, I used the pen to coat my finger in ink and spread it out on the desired area.
Sketching: After I had finished my final sketch and planning, I created a grid over the last planning sketch. I created lines every __in(__cm) along the top and __in(__cm) along the sides to create a grid on the Bristol paper. I then began to use the grid method to form the sketch in pencil. I started with some of the simpler aspects of the picture in order to get a feel for it. First, I drew the nightstand in the bottom left as a nice base to grow from. Secondly, I went on to draw the backboard of the bed and the pillows. I continued to move upwards and drew in the slanted ceiling and the medal case. After that, I shifted my attention to the doorway on the right and the railings on the outside. Next, I finished drawing in the bed frame, the woman's head in the bed, and the covers. I then went on to finish the sketching with the standing soldier. The soldier was the most time consuming aspect of the project due to the the random camouflage and me messing up consistently on the shape of his head.
Inking: After I was satisfied with the final sketching, I began to to finalize the design. I again started with the nightstand, using a ruler to maintain the straight lines. From there, I decided to shift over to the soldier. I started to draw over the boots and his general outline first, then moving inwards to the camouflage, erasing the grid lines and extra lines as I went along. I was sure to spend some extra attention to his face, adding the patchy beard to relate it to the other piece. Next, I finished the bed frame and the covers, spreading some ink out to create a shaded area. I then went over to the door frame and the outside railings. Next, I moved onto the pillows and the woman's head, which ended up being sightly difficult. I finished up the piece by changing the medal case slightly. By that point, the positioning of the slanted ceiling felt too awkward to me, which I decided to remove and shift the orientation of the case to be parallel to the bed frame below. After I had finished outlining the entire paper, I worked on the shading of all of the objects. For many of the areas, I used the pen to coat my finger in ink and spread it out on the desired area.
Reflection
Overall, I am not as proud of this one as I am my negative piece. I wish that I had done a lot better on the faces of the two people. I like the face of the woman, but I am not satisfied with the shape of her head and hair. I have a similar feeling about the man, as i am much more happy with the face, but less satisfied with the shape of his head. Another thing that I wish I had done was add a bit more detail on the hallway outside. There are certain aspects that I am happy with though. The thing that I am most happy with is the shading throughout the overall piece. To me. I feel that this project has been a solid experimentation with ink.
ACT Responses
1. Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
Norman Rockwell's art is created with very high amounts of detail, which I tried hard to do and did to the best of my ability.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Rockwell did many different illustrations spanning multiple distinct topics over the years, including Conflict related pieces talking about WW2 or black oppression during the Civil Rights Movement.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Throughout the scope of my research, I learned just how much of an impact that war can have on people.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The theme that I have been trying to stay with throughout my work is Conflict.
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
In my research, I inferred that war is not as black and white as some people think. There are many different aspects that form the positive and negative parts of war.
Norman Rockwell's art is created with very high amounts of detail, which I tried hard to do and did to the best of my ability.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Rockwell did many different illustrations spanning multiple distinct topics over the years, including Conflict related pieces talking about WW2 or black oppression during the Civil Rights Movement.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Throughout the scope of my research, I learned just how much of an impact that war can have on people.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The theme that I have been trying to stay with throughout my work is Conflict.
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
In my research, I inferred that war is not as black and white as some people think. There are many different aspects that form the positive and negative parts of war.
Bibliography
“The Art of Norman Rockwell - Norman Rockwell Museum - The Home for American Illustration.” Norman Rockwell Museum, www.nrm.org/collections-2/art-norman-rockwell/.